Kargil’s hero’s father fights a lone battle, against own government

The Kargil war hit Dr N K Kalia hard. Living among the picturesque setting of Palampur in Himachal Pradesh, Dr Kalia paid a terrible price for the conflict between India and Pakistan in 1999: the war snatched his son — Captain Saurav Kalia, popularly known as the ‘hero of Kargil war’ – away.

Dr Kalia fumbles while speaking. The last happy moment he witnessed in his family was in December 1998, when he, along with his wife, patted the ranks on Saurav’s shoulders as he passed out at Dehradun.

He has no regret for losing his son who died while fighting to save the nation’s boundaries when he was 23. But his grouse is that he failed to get justice for his son whose corpus was insulted by Pakistani troops. He was branded with burning cigarettes, his eyes were gouged out, bones broken and private organs chopped off.

From June 1999, after Saurav’s mutilated body was received by him, Dr Kalia has been knocking on the doors of the Union ministry of defence (MoD), the Army headquarters, ministry of external affairs (MEA) the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to convince them to take up the issue of his son’s torture at an international platform — as it is a violation of the Geneva Convention — and force Pakistan to apologize, identify and punish those Pakistan soldiers who indulged in this barbaric torture.

After failing to get any response from any of the authorities, Dr Kalia has now moved the Supreme Court seeking direction to the MEA and ministry of home affairs to take up his son’s case at the International Court of Justice to punish the guilty.

“The Army honored us and always took care of us. But for the last 13 years, I am unable to sleep. Every time the brutally mutilated body of my son appears before me,” said Dr Kalia, who retired as a scientist with CSIR.

“Had I been an American or from Israel, I would have got justice for my son. There is lack of political will in our country to get justice for soldiers who are making supreme sacrifices to save the integrity and sovereignty of our country,” said the desperate father.

In the past 13 years, a number of Presidents has given him automated replies — “his case has been forwarded to appropriate authority for appropriate action”.

On moving the apex court of the country at this juncture, Dr Kalia says he decided to knock on the doors of the highest court of country after realizing that the Indian government is totally indifferent towards the issue.

Dr Kalia says he does not want his son’s case to meet the same fate that the families of 54 prisoners of war (POWs) of the 1971 war, where the government failed miserably.

What does Captain Saurav Kalia’s father want?

Pakistan to apologize, identify and punish those soldiers who indulged in the barbaric torture of Captain Kalia. As the issue relates to war crimes involving two nations, such action can only take place if the government of India takes it up with Pakistan or with the International Court of Justice.

Immediately after his commissioning into the 4 Jat regiment of the Army, Captain Kalia was posted in the Kargil area. In May 1999, Captain Kalia had gone out for patrol duty in the Kaksar area of Kargil along with five other soldiers — Sepoys Arjunram Baswana, Mula Ram Bidiasar, Naresh Singh Sinsinwar, Bhanwar Lal Bagaria and Bhika Ram Mudh. They were caught by the Pakistan Army, which kept them in captivity for over 22 days and subjected them to brutal torture as evident from their bodies handed over by the Pakistan Army on June 9,1999. Parts of their bodies were branded with burning cigarettes, eyes gouged out, teeth and bones broken and various limbs and private organs chopped off.

Their status as POW was not informed by the Pakistan Army to India. Instead, they were subjected to unprecedented torture, violating the Geneva Convention.

What has the Indian government done so far?

The only step taken by the government of India through MEA in this matter was to issue a press release on June 15, 1999 and handing over Aide Memoire to the Pakistan high commission.

The press release read: “The government of India demands that persons responsible for grave breach of Geneva Convention by torture, inhuman treatment and willful killing of captured member are identified and brought to justice without delay. It is requested that a full account of place, date and circumstances and capture period of detention, particulars concerning the wounds and cause of death are communicated to the GOI immediately”.

Saga of a father’s fight

* May 15, 1999 | Captain Saurav Kalia and his men captured by Pakistani troops near Bajrang post.

* June 9, 1999 | Mutilated body of Captain Kalia and his men handed over to India by Pakistan Army.

* The then Prime Minister, defence minister and minister for external affairs promised to take up the issue for action against culprits.

* October 1999 | The then Army chief Gen VP Malik visited Captain Kalia’s home and promised to take up the issue with the government. (He was later advised by the Army that it was a sensitive issue involving two nations and could only be taken up by MEA, PMO or MoD.

* 1999 | After the war, Dr Kalia wrote to the Prime Minister of Pakistan through its high commission in Delhi but there was no response.

* November 17, 1999 | He moved an RTI seeking information from Army authorities about the Army’s action on the issue. The application was referred to MEA and MoD on November 24 but did not elicit any response.

* April 17, 2000 | PMO writes to joint secretary rank officer dealing with UN issues in the MEA but to no avail.

* 2001 Agra-summit | He sought 10 minutes audience with the then Pakistan President, General Parvez Mussharaf but it was not permitted.

* Approached MEA to take up the issue with Pakistan but no initiative was taken.

* Approached National Human Rights Commission, received information that commission is not competent to act on such issues.

* 2010 | Approached the principal bench of military tribunal, which expressed helplessness, citing jurisdiction issue. Directed that government of India should take up the issue with Pakistan. No action on this so far.

* 2011 | One UK-based activist Jasbir Uppal of an international NGO on human rights tried to take up the issue with the UN but it could not be considered on technical grounds.

November 2012 | Dr Kalia moves petition before the Supreme Court of India for specific directions to the government to take up his case before ICJ.

DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own.

Author

Ajay Sura is with the Chandigarh edition of The Times of India, covering the legal and defence beats. He covers the Punjab and Haryana high court. He closely follows the Chandigarh-based Western Command at Chandimandir, one of the advanced and striking commands of the Indian Army. For Ajay, it has been an eventful period, with the high profile Ruchika molestation case being fought in the courts and the media playing an important role in the fight for justice for her. He also writes about pets.

Ajay Sura is with the Chandigarh edition of The Times of India, covering the legal and defence beats. He covers the Punjab and Haryana high court. He closel. . .

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Author

Ajay Sura is with the Chandigarh edition of The Times of India, covering the legal and defence beats. He covers the Punjab and Haryana high court. He closely follows the Chandigarh-based Western Command at Chandimandir, one of the advanced and striking commands of the Indian Army. For Ajay, it has been an eventful period, with the high profile Ruchika molestation case being fought in the courts and the media playing an important role in the fight for justice for her. He also writes about pets.

Ajay Sura is with the Chandigarh edition of The Times of India, covering the legal and defence beats. He covers the Punjab and Haryana high court. He closel. . .